Vol. 42 No. 1 1975 - page 46

46
PARTISAN REVIEW
The " Sakharovs" are indeed atypical of this category of
intelligentsia .
It
must be kept in mind that he said , " My views were
formed in the milieu of the scientific-technical intelligentsia ."
Finally, it is essential to draw one more highly important
ideological distinction . The Soviet people might be categorized in two
groups or layers which will be referred
to
hereafter as the' 'restricted"
and the ' 'coerced ." To the category of ' 'restricted" belong , of course ,
the humanistic intelligentsia, those belonging to the so-called "free"
professions, and a large part of the " sixth layer"-i.e ., black market
" businessmen," artisans , individual peasant-farmers, etc. To the
category of "coerced" belong many scientists, engineers, factory
workers, employees and teachers .
The greatest hope of the' 'restricted," of course, lies in liberation
from their restrictions. For the humanistic intelligentsia this means
freedom from censorship , Party dictates, and so on; for black market
"businessmen, " it means liberation from the OBKHSS [Division for
the Campaign against Embezzlement of Socialist Property]. Many of
the ' 'restricted" are simultaneously ' 'coerced ," but their employment
is usually connected with their restricted status. Because of their
privileged position and their acquired characteristics, which have been
previously discussed , these " restricted " have little concern for the
,'coerced ," do not concern themselves with Soviet social and economic
problems , particularly with the problem of doing away with state
capitalism in the USSR. They are fascinated by.extreme idealism as a
reaction to materialism, and often do not even understand what state
capitalism means . Many of them have no objections
to
the state 's
retaining the ownership of large industry (the so-called "mixed
economy") . Others advocate the restoration of capitalism. The
majority of the "restricted" think about democratization in theoreti–
cal terms only and fear that the people are not "ripe enough " for it.
Subconsciously, they are afraid that they themselves may be
"over-ripe" for a democratic society. One finds more frequently
chauvinism, anti-Semitism, and neo-Slavophilism among the "re–
stricted ones. " When they turn to faith, as they often do, they
manifest their religiosity as well as their other convictions in typical
" Soviet style " -namely, militant intolerance and contempt for any
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